MARGARET GILL HOMILY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021
“Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense ….” wrote the Psalmist.
“Let my prayer…” Margaret Gill
There are so many fascinating facets to Margaret Gill’s life, but at this final moment, I think of her in terms of prayer.
I prayed with Margaret Gill in this church 40 years ago. I prayed with Margaret regularly for a quarter of a century at meetings of the Diocesan Board of Directors. I prayed with Margaret for a decade at the United Religions Initiative’s office. I prayed with Margaret in the village where Jesus was born, in the town where Jesus grew up, in the city where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead. I prayed with Margaret in Asia Minor where St. Paul evangelized and in the region where the doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity were forged. I prayed with Margaret in Celtic areas of England, Scotland and Ireland where God was recognized in water and stone, wind and earth.
“Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense.”
What is prayer but going inward in order to go upward? Closing your eyes and humbling presenting yourself to the Mysterium Tremendum? Surrendering to unfathomable beauty, to overarching mercy, in voiceless wonder? Margaret prayed. I know. I was there.
“Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense…” Margaret Gill!
At the end, when Margaret was fighting for her last breaths, I asked her if I might again say a prayer with her. With utmost frailty and conviction, she whispered, “Absolutely.”
“Absolutely!”
Amen!